Pretoria – South African youth must channel efforts towards understanding and promoting their African identity, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.
“There is an issue we have begun to discuss in the AU (African Union). That is the opening of the borders on the continent. Colonialists divided us and we now believe indeed this person is a Portuguese citizen, this one is British and French. We are not, we are just Africans,” Zuma said at National Youth Day commemorations in Pretoria.
“In the intra-trade we are discussing, one of the critical things is to make the movement of goods and people easy on the continent. That is very crucial. We urge you to know the African Union anthem, functions and symbols,” said Zuma.
Zuma was delivering a keynote address to thousands of youth gathered at the Tshwane Events Centre in Pretoria west.
“We also urge you to take time to understand the history and culture of as many African countries and people as possible. If we do all this, we will transform this country and create a better place for all,” said Zuma.
Numerous people were holding small replicas of the AU flag and had the African National Congress emblem printed on their cheeks.
South Africa hosted the 25th AU Summit which ended in Johannesburg on Monday.
The conference was attended by around 50 presidents including current AU chairperson, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Turning to the upcoming 2016 local government elections, Zuma urged the young people to apply for identity documents to enable them to vote.
“Young people, local government elections are coming soon. Prepare yourselves to vote by applying for identity documents without delay. Your vote is crucial in ensuring that this country is governed properly,” said Zuma.
He said his government, in line with the Freedom Charter, was ensuring that young people receive quality education.
“In this vein, education continues to receive the biggest chunk of the national budget as our weapon for socio-economic development. Government currently invests more than six billion rand on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to provide support to young people who are unable to pay,” said Zuma to applause.
“In partnership with the department of higher education and training, the National Youth Development Agency in the Presidency also runs the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund which has disbursed more than 40 million rand and has helped 586 poor, mostly rural youth to access higher education between 2014 and 2015.”
The president said despite acquiring education, many young South Africans were struggling to secure employment.
“Our youth has responded positively to our promotion of education. They continue to flock to higher education institutions each year, seeking education. However, another problem still remains,” he said.
“The economy is not growing as fast as we want and is not creating as many jobs as we need. As a result, many of our graduates sit at home without jobs.”
Zuma called on the private sector to increase youth employment through taking young people for internships and apprentices in line with South Africa’s youth employment accord.
“We have to work together to provide opportunities for the youth, who are the future of our country. Government cannot perform this task alone. We thank all businesses that continue to employ young people and offer opportunities to them,” he said.
Held under the theme “Youth Moving South Africa Forward”, this year’s commemoration marks 39 years since the 16 June 1976 uprisings.
On this day, in 1976, a group of school children set off from Morris Isaacson High School in Orlando, Soweto, to protest over Afrikaans being the medium of instruction, among other grievances against the apartheid government.
There was a standoff with police, who opened fire on the children. The township was sealed off and attacks on government buildings followed; as well as the flight of many youths and political leaders into exile. This day is now commemorated as Youth Day. - ANA